The Kansas City Chiefs had an uneven year defensively, and the unit’s struggle were an integral part of the team’s ugly 6-11 record. At times the defense seemed capable of carrying the team the way they did last year, with a monumental assist from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, of course.
But that old formula didn’t work. There were other times when the Chiefs defense basically gave away the store, and Jesse Newell of The Athletic broke down the situation to pinpoint the good, the bad, what mattered and what didn’t.
“We didn’t have the result we wanted this year,” said linebacker Nick Bolton. “I guess you could say we go into the offseason a little bit [ticked] off.”
For defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the issue wasn’t about stats or being angry. He pinpointed that inability to make that one big play the Chiefs needed at the end of multiple games.
That problem showed up statistically in one specific area, according to Newell. In 2024, On third downs in games that were close in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs EPA was second in the league at 14.21, and first in the league in Pass EPA at 14.59.
Last year, however was a very different story. The defensive EPA numbers was 31st in the league at -20.72, and the pass EPA was last at -19.99. the good news is that this stat is taken with a relatively small sample size, so it can be fluky, which also means ti could be turned around without a complete overhaul.
Turnovers were the other big problem, but they was an entirely different issue. In 2024, the Chiefs defense was a mid-pack unit, registering 20 takeaways. Last year, that number dropped to 14, which tied Kansas City for 26th. That’s a big drop, and key defensive players like Bolton recognize that.
“Last year, we didn’t have a (turnover) number that we wanted. It was lower than years prior,” Bolton said. “This year, it was lower than that one.”
In addition, the number of forced fumbles was almost halved from 2024 to last year, going from 15 to 8 in 2025, and that 2025 number came up 30th. Fumble recoveries tend to be random, of course, but forcing fumbles can be taught and improved via technique.
The result of all this was an uneven season. Spagnuolo indicated that there were stretches when he was proud of the unit, but there were others when they didn’t do enough. He’ll almost certainly be trying to do more with very different personnel, however. Half the Chiefs secondary is entering free agency, along with key linebacker Leo Chenal,and there simply isn’t enough money available to pay everyone.